The Common Heritage of Mankind
In the decolonization era, one of the battles for international law was over the seabed and its mineral resources, with intensive debates about the ownership of these resources and the conditions under which they could be exploited. At its nexus was the principle of common heritage of mankind (CHM). This chapter relates the protracted legal tussle around the CHM principle. It traces how the terms of the battle changed over time and ‘annotates’ the battle by reference to a few key issues—the precise basis for developing states’ interest in seabed resources; the antinomies of the CHM principle; and the Cold War’s effect upon the negotiations. It highlights how economic considerations remained material to the negotiations; the ideological defeat for developing states; and the seabed’s role in the NIEO movement as a whole.